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Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

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Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#141

Post by __derek__ »

phil21 wrote: post #130
woodruffw wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All of the virtue signaling and moral feather preening surrounding this issue is something to behold. Spare us the rhetoric, please. The only purpose it serves is to confirm your alienation. Business mixing with activism is nothing new, although progressive businesses engaging in activism is. You'd do well to remember the recent fracas over churches and resorts choosing not to host gay weddings. That's conservative…

Let's say I disagree with you vehemently on this. I actually don't have an opinion (for the purposes of this comment) but I think there is a point to be had here the OP is trying to get at that is very important. You obviously were not in fear of career repercussions by posting your reply. I guarantee you that there are people reading your post now, who want to post a reasonable disagreement from the "conservative" v…

What in that post would be dangerous to disagree with?

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#142

Post by sumedh »

Dorothy1989 wrote: post #80
ssijak wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, US gov (Clinton and Obama) created this refugees in the first place. They are all coming from the areas that this administrations ruined in one way or another.

It is sade that comments like yours get downvoted. It seems noone here in HN wants to listen to the truth. Perhaps they are ignorant or conscientiously aware of what the States has done to Syria and want to muffle the truth. Reality hurts, does it?

The reason that comment was down voted was because he/she conveniently ignored that US under Bush invaded a country which had nothing to do with 9/11.

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#143

Post by rhapsodic »

woodruffw wrote: post #121
rhapsodic wrote: post #114

All of the virtue signaling and moral feather preening surrounding this issue is something to behold. It seems we're entering a new era where businesses engage in political activism as well as simple commerce. If that's the case, it's only fair that other groups, whose politics may differ from the activist-businesses', start using politics to weaken those businesses and counter their influence. For example, it's well…

> All of the virtue signaling and moral feather preening surrounding this issue is something to behold. Spare us the rhetoric, please. The only purpose it serves is to confirm your alienation. Business mixing with activism is nothing new, although progressive businesses engaging in activism is. You'd do well to remember the recent fracas over churches and resorts choosing not to host gay weddings. That's conservative…

> Such laws would be a stunning display of hypocrisy from a party that claims to be against federal interference in markets.

Yeah, what's your point? The Democratic party is not constrained by any of its purported principles when it's going after its political enemies. It's not about principles, it's about inflicting damage on your political enemies so they are afraid to do anything that might further upset you.

There might develop in this country a groundswell of people who have had a bellyful of being bullied and lectured, particularly by self-righteous billionaires. They might decide they want to see Brian Chevsky and Airbnb taken down a peg or two, and they might wake up from their stupor and realize that they have the power to do just that. I'm sure a skilled politician could convince the country of the urgent need for regulating the dangerous, shady, barely above-ground economic activities that Airbnb facilitates.

I'm sure that whoever uses Airbnb clicks through an agreement that absolves them of any liability should anyone get hurt. But perhaps a rich, heartless, greedy corporation should not be allowed to do that. A law could be passed, whereby, for example, if a woman was staying in Airbnb was raped because a former guest duplicated the key and used it to break in and rape her, she could sue Airbnb for negligence. And anyone who dared publicly oppose such a law could be smeared as anti-woman and pro-rape.

> It would also normalize (or continue the trend of normalizing) political punishment for companies that don't agree with the current administration's (non-legal) policies. Regardless of who's in power, that's not a good road to go down.

Dude, we're already down that road. Read up on what Democratic politicians did or tried to do to Chick-Fil-A, to cheers from the left, because its founder was deemed guilty of thoughtcrimes.

It will only end when the left decides they want a truce, and that will only happen when their own tactics are used against them in equal or greater amounts. There needs to be some high profile examples made.

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#144

Post by rhapsodic »

rhapsodic wrote: post #143
woodruffw wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All of the virtue signaling and moral feather preening surrounding this issue is something to behold. Spare us the rhetoric, please. The only purpose it serves is to confirm your alienation. Business mixing with activism is nothing new, although progressive businesses engaging in activism is. You'd do well to remember the recent fracas over churches and resorts choosing not to host gay weddings. That's conservative…

> Such laws would be a stunning display of hypocrisy from a party that claims to be against federal interference in markets. Yeah, what's your point? The Democratic party is not constrained by any of its purported principles when it's going after its political enemies. It's not about principles, it's about inflicting damage on your political enemies so they are afraid to do anything that might further upset you. Ther…

I was just thinking about this further, and it occurred to me, that if a few congressman were to simply start making noises about all the shady, gray-area aspects of Airbnb's business model, and how badly they need to be regulated to insure safety, peace and tranquility for all Americans and Especially For The Children, it could make multiple billions of dollars of their valuation evaporate in a puff of smoke.

The investors are probably mostly vehemently anti-Trump, like Brian Chevsky, so maybe they would take it in stride, and stand behind him, for the sake of their Sacred Principles.

Or maybe they wouldn't, it's hard to say.

It would be interesting to see how a scenario like that would play out.

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#145

Post by exodust »

paulsutter wrote: post #102

AirBNB might want to adjust their offer since the majority of the world population are not allowed in the US. Visas are limited by country and can be an arduous process. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_United_St... Only visitors from the few countries in blue or green are permitted entry automatically: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Visa_policy_of_the_USA.... I mention this without any advoca…

I thought this too, but looking a bit further there's already refugees living in the US in motels and so on, burning through their 'welcome cash'. Not sure about numbers, I just looked at one example of a family from Afghanistan who arrived just before the ban. So the housing offered by Airbnb hosts in the US would be, I presume, for people like this who are living in motels currently.

I wonder what these refugees who made it to the US typically do for housing once their motel money runs out? Are they on a waiting list for government housing or something? I guess they would receive welfare payments to cover rent, or just need to find work.

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#146

Post by woodruffw »

rhapsodic wrote: post #143
woodruffw wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All of the virtue signaling and moral feather preening surrounding this issue is something to behold. Spare us the rhetoric, please. The only purpose it serves is to confirm your alienation. Business mixing with activism is nothing new, although progressive businesses engaging in activism is. You'd do well to remember the recent fracas over churches and resorts choosing not to host gay weddings. That's conservative…

> Such laws would be a stunning display of hypocrisy from a party that claims to be against federal interference in markets. Yeah, what's your point? The Democratic party is not constrained by any of its purported principles when it's going after its political enemies. It's not about principles, it's about inflicting damage on your political enemies so they are afraid to do anything that might further upset you. Ther…

> The Democratic party is not constrained by any of its purported principles when it's going after its political enemies.

Yes, it absolutely is. The reason the DNC is in shambles right now is because it tried to circumvent its principles and got burned in the process. For the next few years, the Democrats will be very mindful of their platform's legitimacy and reconstruction.

> It's not about principles, it's about inflicting damage on your political enemies so they are afraid to do anything that might further upset you.

This is extremely myopic. The goal of the DNC (or GOP, for that matter) is not to inflict damage as a deterrent. Arm-twisting is a part of politics, but actively sabotaging your own party platform for a brief gain is not a component of arm-twisting.

I'm not familiar with how Airbnb deals with liability (or even liability law in general), so I'll refrain from commenting on the majority of your thought experiment here. One thing that does stand out is a theme of "us versus them," where the "them" is "self-righteous billionaires." Neither end of the political spectrum has any want for billionaires, and they're all "self-righteous" in the sense that they put their money towards political action that you don't agree with. If you want to critique billionaires on the left like Chesky, be prepared to explain why he's any different from the Koch brothers (except perhaps in visibility).

> Read up on what Democratic politicians did or tried to do to Chick-Fil-A, to cheers from the left, because its founder was deemed guilty of thoughtcrimes.

I'm familiar with this[1] controversy, if that's what you mean. The closest analogue I can find in that circumstance was local politicians threatening to block construction of new Chick-Fil-As. I think that sort of response is reprehensible, but it's also a far cry from the federal government using its power to punish an individual business. In short: it's bad that they did that, but equivocating their (empty) threats with what you've suggested doesn't hold water.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-fil-A_same-sex_marriage_...

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#147

Post by rhapsodic »

woodruffw wrote: post #146
rhapsodic wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Such laws would be a stunning display of hypocrisy from a party that claims to be against federal interference in markets. Yeah, what's your point? The Democratic party is not constrained by any of its purported principles when it's going after its political enemies. It's not about principles, it's about inflicting damage on your political enemies so they are afraid to do anything that might further upset you. Ther…

> The Democratic party is not constrained by any of its purported principles when it's going after its political enemies. Yes, it absolutely is. The reason the DNC is in shambles right now is because it tried to circumvent its principles and got burned in the process. For the next few years, the Democrats will be very mindful of their platform's legitimacy and reconstruction. > It's not about principles, it's about i…

> If you want to critique billionaires on the left like Chesky, be prepared to explain why he's any different from the Koch brothers (except perhaps in visibility).

Do you still not get it? I don't have to explain anything. I don't have to provide any arguments at all. I don't have to do anything except protect myself and stay within the law. And I don't want to "critique" billionaires on the left who use their money and high profile to push political agendas that are opposed to mine. I want to see them suffer financial consequences so they'll STFU. And I don't feel compelled to observe any principles people like you remind me of, because my opponents are not bound by any principles.

This might just be a tipping point. If Brian Chevsky continues this, I might decide to contact my congressman and senator (both Republican) and express to them how concerned I am about this newfangled website called "Airbnb" that could be running underground, illegal hotels in my nice quiet residential neighborhood (where I'm sure operating a regular hotel would be prohibited by zoning laws), and now, OMG, he's there's a chance he might be putting ISIS fighters disguised as refugees in the house next door to mine!

Yep, I'm getting mighty tired of these self-righteous billionaires.

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#148

Post by woodruffw »

rhapsodic wrote: post #147
woodruffw wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Democratic party is not constrained by any of its purported principles when it's going after its political enemies. Yes, it absolutely is. The reason the DNC is in shambles right now is because it tried to circumvent its principles and got burned in the process. For the next few years, the Democrats will be very mindful of their platform's legitimacy and reconstruction. > It's not about principles, it's about i…

> If you want to critique billionaires on the left like Chesky, be prepared to explain why he's any different from the Koch brothers (except perhaps in visibility). Do you still not get it? I don't have to explain anything. I don't have to provide any arguments at all. I don't have to do anything except protect myself and stay within the law. And I don't want to "critique" billionaires on the left who use their money…

> I want to see them suffer financial consequences so they'll STFU. And I don't feel compelled to observe any principles people like you remind me of, because my opponents are not bound by any principles.

I'm sorry you feel that way, because that's not the way it is. Principles that you don't like still have principles, and the only person being self-righteous here is you.

Using your political power in bad faith does require explanation, especially when you go on the Internet and encourage others to do the same. If you're not willing to explain or argue for your actions, then you should consider whether you truly can explain them.

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#149

Post by rhapsodic »

woodruffw wrote: post #148
rhapsodic wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want to critique billionaires on the left like Chesky, be prepared to explain why he's any different from the Koch brothers (except perhaps in visibility). Do you still not get it? I don't have to explain anything. I don't have to provide any arguments at all. I don't have to do anything except protect myself and stay within the law. And I don't want to "critique" billionaires on the left who use their money…

> I want to see them suffer financial consequences so they'll STFU. And I don't feel compelled to observe any principles people like you remind me of, because my opponents are not bound by any principles. I'm sorry you feel that way, because that's not the way it is. Principles that you don't like still have principles, and the only person being self-righteous here is you. Using your political power in bad faith does…

> Using your political power in bad faith does require explanation, especially when you go on the Internet and encourage others to do the same. If you're not willing to explain or argue for your actions, then you should consider whether you truly can explain them.

OMG! You are hilarious! You still think that you can dictate rules that I'm "required" to follow! Keep it up! I love it!

Re: Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US

#150

Post by tofu_icecream »

jlardinois wrote: post #11
loceng wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this controversial for a company who wants to look good to everyone around the world? Perhaps it's controversial if you think Airbnb only cares about the U.S. market, however if you look more holistically then it's a tiny majority who might be bothered by this.

Labeling something controversial isn't a value judgment, it's simply an observation that it's drawing or likely to draw a negative response from a large group of people. The President currently has a 30something percent approval rating. Companies generally try to avoid doing things that could potentially alienate a third of a market. I'm glad Airbnb is doing this, and I think in the future it will be seen as an impor…

How many of that 30% do you actually think are in their market though. Airbnb hosts tend to be in urban areas and they have agreed to accept foreign guests in their home. Guests are probably at least semi frequent travelers and usually tech savvy.I don't think Airbnb is as ubiquitous as you seem to think.
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